Pharmaceutical major Pfizer has selected 20 healthcare and biotechnology startups under a programme focused on strengthening intellectual property (IP) protection for early-stage innovators.
Pfizer has partnered with the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) at IIT Delhi and the innovation platform Social Alpha for the same.
The initiative, called the Pfizer INDovation IP Support Programme 2025-26, is being positioned as India’s first structured healthcare innovation programme that centres on intellectual property strategy in startup development.
The selected startups will receive grant support along with guidance on protecting and managing their innovations in India and overseas markets.
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Focus on Building Stronger IP Foundations
Under the programme, each startup is liable to receive a grant of Rs 1.5 lakh and access to structured IP support through FITT-IIT Delhi. The assistance will cover patentability assessments, prior-art searches, patent filing guidance, IP strategy development, and access to legal and technical experts.
The programme aims to address a long-standing challenge within India’s healthcare innovation ecosystem. The ecosystem is prone to struggle as promising technologies struggle to secure adequate intellectual property protection during the early stages of growth.
Industry experts have increasingly highlighted the need for stronger patent strategies to help Indian startups commercialise innovations and compete globally.
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Healthcare Innovation Ecosystem Gets a Boost
The programme brings together Pfizer’s healthcare expertise, FITT-IIT Delhi’s capabilities in technology transfer and Social Alpha’s startup development network.
The collaboration intends to help emerging healthcare ventures secure ownership of their innovations while preparing them for future growth and commercialisation.
The 20 selected startups span healthtech, medtech, biotechnology, diagnostics and digital healthcare segments. The cohort includes Greenathon Technologies, Prakriti AI Technologies, Adsys Medtech, MedKern, B Cell Biologics India, Physiomize, DRomics Labs, Ripple Healthcare, BabyCue, Avalg Bionics, Immunyfit Healthtech, Nexstem India and several others.
The announcement comes at a time when investor and policy focus is growing on deep-tech, medtech, and healthcare innovation in India.
As the country’s startup ecosystem matures, intellectual property ownership is increasingly viewed as a critical factor in attracting investment, enabling technology transfer, and expanding into international markets.
Samarjit Kaur is a journalist and communications professional covering technology & emerging digital trends. With a focus on clarity and context, she reports on developments shaping industries and governance. When not reporting, she chooses to plug-in and relax on her playlists and plan her next bucket-list trips!
